Harry Potter and The Serpents Mirror
by lhb77
Summary: What if Harry was a pureblood, raised to be the best of Slytherin in a world where he faces not only Voldemort but also extremists on the other side of the spectrum. Could the Boy Who Lived still be a saviour to all wizarding kind. First fanfic so please don't be too harsh. Rated M to be safe.
1. Prologue - 1971

Everything was about to change for a young boy with messy brown hair, through the gargantuan doors in front of him lay his future. To his left stood his first true friend in the wizarding world but before any conversation as to what the future may hold could continue, the stern looking professor McGonagall began the process of ushering then into the great hall. Many in the group of eleven year olds looked timid or amazed, while others looked simply happy or indifferent, the difference between the two groups clear as day. The group stopped in front of a stool with an accent wizards hat upon it. Before the new students had the opportunity to truly digest their new environment, the professor began to call names and the sorting began.

Adjusting his glasses and glancing back to his friend, the young boy had little time to dwell on the rounds of applause as each student departed to their new compatriots, until that same friend was called "Black, Sirius" James suddenly found himself looking with newfound attention to the sorting hat, Sirius had left his side and departed to the front with comfortable ease, a far cry from many of the new students thus far. McGonagall places the sorting hat on his head for mere moments before it made its announcement "SLYTHERIN" the table to the far side erupted in applause before the newest of the Black students began to make his way to their table. James felt nervous now, he had rarely spent time around children his own age, what with his parents being unusually old to be having children, even by wizarding standards. The other source of his worries came from what his parents had told him throughout his childhood, that slytherin was the source of dark wizards and witches, the sorts who had followed Grindlewald. His Gryffindor father and Hufflepuff mother would not approve of a slytherin in the family but James was reluctant to lose his first real friend.

His mind was suddenly cleared when he saw, for the first time, the girl stood in front of him. She seemed excited, but her eyes betrayed the fact that she knew, at least to some extent, about her surroundings. Surely she would be a pureblood or a half blood, in a roundabout sort of way James tried to justify her being in Slytherin as well, his already nervous mind conjuring a fantasy that made choosing Slytherin more bearable when faced with the wrath of his parents.

"Potter, James" suddenly shaken from his train of thought, James took his place on the stool, the vast number of candles obscured by the old hat now on his head "it's been a while since I've had a Potter to sort, normally it's quite easy, but with you I sense a reluctance to join your fathers house"

"I...I can't be a Gryffindor" James replied, still not quite sure of himself.

"You can't eh? Perhaps instead we should place you in Hufflepuff, the house of your mother"

"I don't think I would belong there either"

"Your mind pulls in one other direction, towards your young friend. If you do not wish for the alternatives, however easier they may be, then it must be SLYTHERIN"

Thunderous applause erupted from the table of snakes as a pureblood whose ancestry belonged to another house was welcomed for the first time. James focused his attention on Sirius and noticed he was sat beside a girl not too dissimilar in appearance to him, but with a slightly more regal appearance, she seemed mildly pleased at his place in their house. Sirius on the other hand had a beaming smile and looked to James with an approving nod, beside him an empty space which he took. "Congratulations James! I knew you would be joining us, it's nice to see another family embracing their pureblood heritage, my cousin here thought you would be a Gryffindor for sure"

"Your cousin?" James replied.

"Yes, allow me to introduce you to Bellatrix Black, my cousin and second year" for the first time James could see the girl up close, her smile gone briefly to be replaced by destain at a muggleborn being sorted into Ravenclaw. "It's a pleasure James, you've made the right decision instead of mingling with mudbloods and blood traitors"

James simply nodded in response, his attention now fixed on one of the few remaining students, the girl from before. His hope for her to be slytherin, however silly it seemed now, was still there.

"Evans, Lily" Sirius at last noticed where James' attention had drifted to and furrowed his brow in thought.

"Evans...Evans...she's a mudblood, I don't recognise her name. Why're you so focused on her?" James was briefly snapped out of his focus by Sirius' question.

"GRYFFINDOR" his eyes darted back to the girl he had seen, his hopes now dashed. He felt down that Lily would not be joining them, but perhaps it was for the best with all the blood supremacists that Slytherin had.

"James?" Sirius was eyeing him suspiciously now.

"Sorry, I er had run into her before boarding the train, I was hoping she was one of us" while James had meant a Slytherin, Sirius hadn't interpreted it that way.

"That's the problem with mudbloods, can't work out who to trust until the sorting ceremony. That's what my father always told me"

James wasn't paying much attention though, instead his thoughts drifted to the future, one that felt strange not to include this young girl in. A path which was once so clear was suddenly shrouded and replaced with another, without any clear reason James felt the urge to turn to his left once more, to look at Bellatrix, who was currently in a reserved discussion with another second year. Yes, the future was now in motion.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N This is my first fanfic so I would appreciate any constructive criticism and feedback. While the starting point of all this change is simply that Sirius accepted the blood supremacy he was raised to believe in, my plan is that this will cause a great deal of change in the Harry Potter universe, as evidenced by my rather short prologue, which served more to set the scene and pave the way for future exploration of James Potter's time at Hogwarts, depending on the success of this fanfic. But I digress, please read, review, let me know where I could improve and what you enjoyed about this chapter but really the whole thing once I get round to writing more of it. Thanks!**

**Grimmauld Place  
31st October 1981**

Druella Black stood as a silent guard in the doorway of the nursery, peering inside she could see two young boys who slept silently, one with jet black hair the other with blonde. Both boys were not Blacks but of Black blood and as their grandmother Druella would protect them till her final breath. She thought of the strange series of events which had brought them to this night, ever since James and Lucius had exposed Voldemort as the half blood he was, many of the pureblood families refused to support him, this of course made the two men targets and over time brought them closer together. Now both their sons slept silently under the same roof, while the parents tried to lure Voldemort far away. Her train of thought was suddenly broken by the appearance of her husband behind her. "My dear you must go to bed, it has been an awfully long day"

"I know Cygnus, but I cannot stand the thought of our daughters out there with that filthy half blood chasing them and what if he decides to punish the boys instead? I will not let any harm befall my grandsons" Druella's tone left no room for argument, a fury burned in her tired eyes, one her love knew he could not quell with ease.

"The house is under the fidelius, all is going according to plan. Lucius and James are good men, they will not let him hurt our daughters. If for whatever reason we are needed however we must be rested and ready" he adopted a sympathetic tone, one which he hoped would help her to relax.

"I'm afraid my love, our family has never been this close to destruction before. The half blood lord has already killed too many of us out of revenge, if Sirius does not marry soon I fear he too will fall before producing an heir. No the boys must be protected, only then will Black blood continue to further generations" Cygnus began to realise that there would be no swaying her, but there was an alternative.

"perhaps I could watch over them for a few hours then, just while you get your strength back" Druella remained silent for a moment before letting go of her pent up emotions.

"very well Cygnus, only for a few hours then. Goodnight my love" Just as the two closed, ready to embrace, a sudden crash reverberated throughout the house. Like a tidal wave a gust of air pushed its way up from the ground floor, candles winking out as it went and then silence reigned over the old home. Every few moments the relative peace would be cut by the creaking of wood, steadily growing louder. There was no mistaking it, he was here, they had been discovered and he would stop at nothing to kill the boys as punishment for their fathers sins. Wordlessly, Cygnus drew his wand, took one final longing look at his wife and began to descend into the darkness. Once her husband was gone from sight, Druella waited but a moment before retreating to the nursery, looking around she saw that the two boys still slept peacefully but once again that peace was shattered for the briefest of moments.

"Avada Kedavra!" a sickening voice pierced the building, filled with hatred and malice but tempered by years of control. The sound of that voice was terrifying and only seconds later did she realise what it had meant, her husband was no more. Druella proceeded to lock and curse the door, the sole barrier remaining against death. Once again she flicked her eyes between the infants still sleeping silently, their innocent expressions fuelling her fear and loss into righteous anger. Suddenly the door bust apart, the sound serving as the catalyst for the boys to begin wailing endlessly into the darkness. A hooded figure seemingly flowed into the room thrusting her wand forward Druella attempted to cast the darkest curses and hexes she knew, but she was no fighter. With a simple flick of his wand she found herself disarmed, she barely heard his next words as the cries of the two young heirs drowned it out but the last thing their grandmother saw was a pair of grotesque red eyes and a sickly ball of green. The creature slid further into the room, grinning like a madman as he gazed down upon the first child. Once again he pulled his wand up taking aim at the one year old.

From the outside of his childhood home, Sirius Black saw an all too familiar green light emanating from within the house, fear struck him and with his wand drawn he proceeded into the house. He would rescue the boys and then he would make the traitor pay in blood.

**Black Manor  
29th July 1991**

Once again Harry had the same vague dream. He had dreamt it regularly since he was a young boy, a familiar looking man and woman were protecting him, and then a monster came and killed them both. Of course he knew the truth but that didn't stop the nightmare from terrifying him every time he had it. Pulling himself up and reaching for his glasses simultaneously, the world around him briefly had the same blurry look as the memory of his dream had. With his glasses on however it was revealed that he lay in his rather large four poster bed in Black Manor. Like the rest of the ancient house, his room had a dark look to it, the few bright colours that did exist stood out sorely and clashed with the Georgian design. Looking over the side of his bed as he did every day Harry encountered his house elf, he had been a gift after Harry had first used his parselmouth abilities "Dobby, fetch me some robes for the day and some water immediately"

"yes master" the house elf, as always looked thrilled that he was able to serve his master, even in a small capacity. Dobby was unusually intelligent for a house elf, but lacked the rebellious nature that often came with such a trait, instead perfectly happy to serve his young master and the family so long as he was responsible for his own punishments. With a soft pop Dobby departed, returning briefly with a glass of water which Harry sipped graciously. For a moment he considered going back to bed and neglecting his lessons on genealogy and politics with his great-grandfather Arcturus Black, who had insisted that he and his cousin Draco be ready for when they go to Hogwarts in September. Before he could take his glasses off however, his door was opened to reveal a woman in expensive yet practical robes, the same jet black hair as his own and strong regal features resembling those of the couple in his dream. "Harry I do hope you are getting up, your father and I wish to talk to you before your lessons begin"

"yes mother" Harry dutifully replied.

Any prospect of additional sleep was shattered by his mother's request. She left after giving him a small smile, only to be followed by the arrival of Dobby with his robes for the day. Soon he would be turning eleven and getting his Hogwarts letter, naturally he would be a Slytherin and do his upmost to uphold the family name against mudbloods and blood traitors. Of course he had never met either but from the descriptions given to him by many of his relatives they were really quite horrible, secretly he was somewhat excited by the prospect of a challenge even if their reputation may have been exaggerated by his blood. Harry had a good life with a good family, but had experienced little beyond that, in only a few weeks that was all going to change. But for now he had to see what it was his parents, James and Bellatrix Potter, wanted to talk to him about.


	3. Update

**A/N This is just a quick update, I've decided that instead of continuing this fanfic right now I would instead write a prequel first, so this fanfic will be continued but not for some time. I'm hoping that by working on something else I can improve my writing abilities and give the ideas that I've got for this a fair go that people may enjoy. For those who are keen to follow this fanfic and want to read the prequel or those who just wanna try something different, please check my account for James Potter and the Darker Path. The first chapter is for the most part borrowed from this fic but I've got a plan for where to go with Darker Path for now. Please read the new fic and enjoy.**


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